NY was ranked the 20th best State for Fishing . Agree or Disagree ?

Pangaroo

Angler
I saw a poll on the internet and NY was ranked 20th. Illinois ranked higher !!!! I say NY is in the top 5 . Montauk and the Thousand Islands were ranked in the top 10 spots to fish . Practically the whole NY Northern border borders water - the 2 Great Lakes and then the St . Lawrence River. Then to the East you got Lake Champlain that's 106 miles Long , goes down to Lake George -32 miles- and then the Hudson All the way down to NYC. Add the Erie Canal from Albany all the way to Lake Ontario , The Finger Lakes, Thousands of Lakes, Ponds in the Adirondacks , The Delaware River and some of the Best Saltwater Fishing in the USA off LI and no way is NY 20th in the Nation.
Same way with Hunting. NY after Pennsylvania is the best hunting state in the East.
 
I saw a poll on the internet and NY was ranked 20th. Illinois ranked higher !!!! I say NY is in the top 5 . Montauk and the Thousand Islands were ranked in the top 10 spots to fish . Practically the whole NY Northern border borders water - the 2 Great Lakes and then the St . Lawrence River. Then to the East you got Lake Champlain that's 106 miles Long , goes down to Lake George -32 miles- and then the Hudson All the way down to NYC. Add the Erie Canal from Albany all the way to Lake Ontario , The Finger Lakes, Thousands of Lakes, Ponds in the Adirondacks , The Delaware River and some of the Best Saltwater Fishing in the USA off LI and no way is NY 20th in the Nation.
Same way with Hunting. NY after Pennsylvania is the best hunting state in the East.
Poll on the Internet? OMG, the humanity!!!

Don't know if I agree or disagree. I really don't give a flying you know what at a rolling donut about an Internet Poll!!!
 
I agree with Cellfish. I made the mistake of heading south early this year. Sure there's great fishing in Florida. I can't wait to get in at least one trip for tog now that I'm back for the holidays.
 
I agree with Cellfish. I made the mistake of heading south early this year. Sure there's great fishing in Florida. I can't wait to get in at least one trip for tog now that I'm back for the holidays.
we’ve been having great weather here George, October/ November may be a bit early for snowbirding… cellfish…
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Freshwater, or saltwater?

Freshwater, maybe. Saltwater has to be in the top ten.
I'm with you on the salt, but remember this is a huge state. The St Lawrence River is the best smallmouth fishery in the country. And the West Branch of the Deleware has been labeled one of the best trout fisheries in the nation. Not to mention the crazy salmon runs.
 
I'm with you on the salt, but remember this is a huge state. The St Lawrence River is the best smallmouth fishery in the country. And the West Branch of the Deleware has been labeled one of the best trout fisheries in the nation. Not to mention the crazy salmon runs.

I can't argue with that. I rarely, if ever, fish freshwater. So I have no idea what the state has to offer. But I would think it's substantial. I regularly see people fishing the lakes in South Nassau County suburbia, so clearly there's opportunities everywhere.
 
The Fishing in the Florida Keys is great , but how is the inshore fishing around the rest of the state? I fished the IntraCoastal from Stuart North and I didn't see one boat fishing . Couple of guys casting from shore and that was it. And Fish are always migrating to and from Florida and they have slow periods ( Winter /Summer ) like we have in the North and don't catch . Marlin/Sailfish /Mahi move North in the summer . Based on what I saw , I think Long Island has better inshore fishing than Florida.
 
The inshore fishery in Fl is excellent. Backwater light tackle opportunities abound. But if you want to get into any decent bottom fishing you're doing a 50-60 mile run to reach the 100-foot or so depths that hold great grouper fishing.

I'm on the west coast so the other issue is the red tide situation there. It has been pretty bad in recent years. Taking away from both beachgoers and anglers alike.
 
The inshore fishery in Fl is excellent. Backwater light tackle opportunities abound. But if you want to get into any decent bottom fishing you're doing a 50-60 mile run to reach the 100-foot or so depths that hold great grouper fishing.

I'm on the west coast so the other issue is the red tide situation there. It has been pretty bad in recent years. Taking away from both beachgoers and anglers alike.
20 nmi runs on LI and 50 nmi runs in FL for 15 fathom deep water seem so alien now. I can cast from an ocean ledge into water that deep or be 2 nmi UP a tidal river and be that deep. It’s nice to be on the “digging” end of the Ice Age glaciers and not where they “relieved” themselves! ?
 
The Fishing in the Florida Keys is great , but how is the inshore fishing around the rest of the state? I fished the IntraCoastal from Stuart North and I didn't see one boat fishing . Couple of guys casting from shore and that was it. And Fish are always migrating to and from Florida and they have slow periods ( Winter /Summer ) like we have in the North and don't catch . Marlin/Sailfish /Mahi move North in the summer . Based on what I saw , I think Long Island has better inshore fishing than Florida.
I fish Florida every year and maybe this is my bias but I wouldn’t trade the fishing I do on LI for any of that. Want the definition of boredom? Stare at kites while sail fishing for 6 hours without a single bite. Happened to me 3 straight years in the Keys and finally wised up and insisted on no sailfish fishing when chartering down there…..
 
I have been fishing waters around NYC and the Hudson all the way to Niagara Falls and I enjoy the sport of fishing anywhere there is water.. It doesn't matter where I'm fishing as long as I can wet my line and have a couple of hours off the water..
 
I fish Florida every year and maybe this is my bias but I wouldn’t trade the fishing I do on LI for any of that. Want the definition of boredom? Stare at kites while sail fishing for 6 hours without a single bite. Happened to me 3 straight years in the Keys and finally wised up and insisted on no sailfish fishing when chartering down there…..
Definitely not my thing. I spend most of my time freshwater fishing there. And as I age I'm finding it very enjoyable. But I'd never give up NY bottom fishing.
 
I fish Florida every year and maybe this is my bias but I wouldn’t trade the fishing I do on LI for any of that. Want the definition of boredom? Stare at kites while sail fishing for 6 hours without a single bite. Happened to me 3 straight years in the Keys and finally wised up and insisted on no sailfish fishing when chartering down there…..
John, the prices ?you pay for doing that are ridiculous, I was down there a few years ago, they wanted 800$ for 4 hrs, this was Sailfish Marina, I laughed in the guys face when he also said and no guarantees.
I've done a lot of offshore fishing in my 70 yrs, I started in the late 70's and stopped in 2012.
I can't complain about the amount of tuna, swordfish, marlin, mahi and other species of fish including ground fish like Tile etc. that I caught that were so abundant during my jaunt's offshore, I don't mind paying the money, but, and even in Fla the targeted species are not as abundant as they were when I first started. sitting for hours waiting for a bite is why I stopped going offshore, IT's Not Like It use to be.
Even CA. has seen a slump in there YFT population.
I like fishing my home waters and surrounding waters of R.I. and NY.
Unless your willing to do 200 mile trips out of Stock Island on say the Yankee Capts, a great boat by the way, it's not worth it.
Maybe I'm getting to old lol.
p.s. I do miss fishing offshore, it can be at times so peaceful and relaxing, not to mention the whales dolphins and other sea life you run into, and those Sunsets and Sunrises, I think I'm going to cry. ?
 
I fish Florida every year and maybe this is my bias but I wouldn’t trade the fishing I do on LI for any of that. Want the definition of boredom? Stare at kites while sail fishing for 6 hours without a single bite. Happened to me 3 straight years in the Keys and finally wised up and insisted on no sailfish fishing when chartering down there…..

beach fishing fun down there… cellfish…
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I fish Florida every year and maybe this is my bias but I wouldn’t trade the fishing I do on LI for any of that. Want the definition of boredom? Stare at kites while sail fishing for 6 hours without a single bite. Happened to me 3 straight years in the Keys and finally wised up and insisted on no sailfish fishing when chartering down there…..
I had the exact same experience when I went Sailfishing out of Islamarada in the Keys. I rented a Boat with my father and went Sailfishing on the reef. We trolled rigged Ballyhoo for hours and not one hit. Big sportfishing Boats all around us were fishing with Kites and they caught one Sailfish after another . Looks like they were going 1 knot , very slow with the kites and they fished with spinning Tackle. I trolled fast, slow , nothing. We fished for 5 or 6 hours.Very Frustrated ! I went into the Tackle shop after we got back and asked what we did wrong. I don't remember if we had a skirt over the Ballyhoo or not, but the tackle guy said the Ballyhoo will spin if it has no skirt. He said with a properly rigged Ballyhoo we'd get a few Sailfish. It's tough when you don't fish that area on a regular basis. I caught Sailfish off Mexico , I really wanted to catch one on my own. Fished off Florida in 2003, wish I went back again. I went out again on a Rental boat and Caught a 35 Pound Bull Dolphin.
 
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